Health News Roundup: Britain trial to test combining Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines in two-shot regimen; Vaccination sites opening in hard-hit California communities to tackle COVID disparities and more

The country's five-tier social distancing system has faced a public backlash for imposing unfair restrictions and curfews on specific businesses, including a ban on indoor restaurant dining after 9 p.m. U.S. COVID Task Force says new cases on decline but variants pose threat New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations appear to be on a downward trajectory in the United States as the Biden administration remains confident that it can hit its target of 100 million vaccines in 100 days, the White House Coronavirus Task Force said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Britain trial to test combining Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines in two-shot regimen

Britain on Thursday launched a trial to assess the immune responses generated if doses of the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc are combined in a two-shot schedule. The British researchers behind the trial said data on vaccinating people with the two different types of coronavirus vaccines could help understanding of whether shots can be rolled out with greater flexibility around the world. Initial data on immune responses is expected to be generated around June.

Vaccination sites opening in hard-hit California communities to tackle COVID disparities

New vaccination centers are due to open this month in the heart of two California communities especially hard hit by the coronavirus, as state and federal officials try to tackle racial and economic disparities hindering U.S. immunization efforts. Joint plans to launch the two sites on Feb. 16, at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in Oakland and the California State University campus in east Los Angeles, were detailed separately on Wednesday by Governor Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration's COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zients.

Melbourne imposes new virus restrictions as Australian Open tennis hotel worker tests positive

Australia's second-most populous city reintroduced coronavirus restrictions from Thursday after an Australian Open hotel quarantine worker tested positive to COVID-19, sending more than 500 tennis players and officials into isolation. Melbourne returned to mandatory masks indoors and a cap on gatherings to 15 people after the state's run of 28 days of zero local infections came to an end.

Australia to buy 10 million additional doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

Australia will buy 10 million additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc and Germany's BioNTech, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday. "These additional vaccines have been secured consistent with our requirements," Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

South Korea PM orders revamp of COVID-19 social distancing rules

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Thursday ordered a revamp of social distancing guidelines in a bid to win greater public support for efforts to stop local transmission of the new coronavirus. The country's five-tier social distancing system has faced a public backlash for imposing unfair restrictions and curfews on specific businesses, including a ban on indoor restaurant dining after 9 p.m.

U.S. COVID Task Force says new cases on decline but variants pose threat

New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations appear to be on a downward trajectory in the United States as the Biden administration remains confident that it can hit its target of 100 million vaccines in 100 days, the White House Coronavirus Task Force said on Wednesday. However, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that new COVID-19 variants popping up across the country could threaten that positive momentum.

On road to ending pandemic, more people vaccinated than total cases to date: data

More people are now vaccinated against COVID-19 than have been infected by the virus that has swept the globe over the past year, a milestone on the road to ending the pandemic, based on data reported on Wednesday. Despite the landmark data, it remains unclear how long it will take to vaccinate the world. Many of those vaccinated have received only one of two doses required.

Exclusive: Merck anti-baldness drug Propecia has long trail of suicide reports, records show

Newly unsealed court documents and other records show that Merck & Co and U.S. regulators knew about reports of suicidal behavior in men taking the company's anti-baldness treatment Propecia when they decided not to warn consumers of those potential risks in a 2011 update of the popular drug's label. Internal records from Merck were made public in late January, when a federal magistrate in Brooklyn, New York, granted a 2019 Reuters motion to unseal 11 documents filed in years of litigation alleging Propecia caused persistent sexual dysfunction and other harmful side effects.

Lucky to be alive, owner of new face, hands learns to feel life anew

At 22, Joe DiMeo is rediscovering a range of sensations on his hands and face, from warmth to coolness, and from wetness to the touch of another person. DiMeo is still getting used to his hands and face. He has had them for less than six months, the product of breakthrough surgery after a fiery accident left stumps where is fingers used to be and his old face severely disfigured.

Global vaccine trust rising, but France, Japan, others sceptical

People's willingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is rising around the world and more than half of those questioned said they would take the shot if it were offered next week, an updated survey of global vaccine confidence found on Thursday. But attitudes and confidence vary widely in the 15 countries covered in the survey, with France showing high levels of scepticism and some Asian countries showing declining trust in vaccines, while some European nations see rising confidence.